


A Dursley At Hogwarts

by Irma66



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-Hogwarts, Post-War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2007-09-09
Updated: 2007-10-20
Packaged: 2018-10-26 14:31:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10788621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irma66/pseuds/Irma66
Summary: Harry finds himself back at #4 Privet Drive investigating reports of under-age magic in the house. At his childhood home, he finds a changed cousin with a family of his own and a little witch on his hands. Harry learns of the death of his uncle and aunt and welcomes his 3rd child while helping his cousin’s family integrate into the wizarding world. He also uncovers something hidden that will change all of their lives again.





	1. Home Again

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally archived at The Quidditch Pitch.
> 
> Author's notes: This is my first go at fan-fic so I would really appreciate your feedback!  Thanks for taking the time to read!
> 
> AN2: Embarassingly, I ran out of steam on this like a decade ago without finishing. That's why I never moved it here myself but it was imported by something called Open Doors. Unfortunately, barring a miracle, this is officially abandoned. I'm so far removed from this fandom that I don't think I can pick it up. I do have half of chapter 9 done -- who knows, maybe someday...

So many years had passed since he had last walked on these steps.  The house looked basically the same although it was now blue and there were a lot more flowers in the garden beds.  He stood motionless on the front step for several moments before sighing deeply, swallowing hard and raising his hand to the knocker.

He rapped twice, startling himself with the loud, echoing sound. 

“Coming.”  He heard a pleasant woman’s voice from deep inside the house and heard the sounds of someone approaching.  The pleasant voice confused him briefly; it wasn’t what he had anticipated.  He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head to banish the fear that was rising in him.  Dueling voices rang in his head.  His first voice said, ‘Stupid, you’re not eleven anymore.  Get a grip.’  His second voice said, ‘Why are you even here?’  That voice was answered by a third voice which sounded a lot like Hermione’s.  ‘You said you would handle this for me.’  He shook his head again to clear the crazy people out of it and then the door opened.

“Hello, may I help you?”

Harry hadn’t been prepared for this attractive brunette woman.  He had expected his aunt.

 “Ah yes, I’m sorry, I…” he actually took a step back to peer at the number on the house, as if he could possibly have walked up the wrong path.  A large brass 4 stared back at him.  His mocking internal voice rang through his head again, ‘Stupid, of course this is the place, how could you ever forget.’ 

“Umm, my name is Harry Potter; I was looking for my aunt and uncle, the Dursleys.”

A sudden look of horror and sympathy came over the woman’s face.  “Oh my, no, I’m sorry, hang on…Dudley!  Dudley, please come.”

Harry heard noises from inside the house and then suddenly found himself face to face with his cousin Dudley.  It was not really what Harry had expected.  Dudley looked mostly the same but still different.  He was still a large man but he had not returned to the fat of his childhood.  He still looked as big and powerful as he had as a teen bully.  It had been ten years since he and Dudley had shaken hands and Harry had left number four, Privet Drive forever.  Dudley looked older, which Harry had expected, and friendlier, which Harry had not expected. 

“Harry!  I wondered if we would see you.  Come in and meet my wife.”

Dudley extended his hand and Harry gripped it in his own, mostly on auto-pilot due to his shock at this greeting.  Dudley pulled Harry over the stoop and into the house, clasping Harry’s shoulder in a large hand. 

“You look the same.  Is that a wizard thing?  That’s actually good to know.”

The brunette had backed further into the house and now put her hand onto Dudley’s arm.  In a hushed voice, she said, “Dudley, he doesn’t know about your parents.”

Harry looked back and forth at the two of them, blinking.  Suddenly, her words gelled with her response at the door and his stomach clenched. 

“Dudley, what’s happened to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia?” 

Dudley dropped his eyes and his lips pursed together before he looked Harry squarely in the face and said, “They were traveling in the fjords a couple of years ago.  Their car went into the water.  They were both killed.”

Harry did not know what to say.  He had no real sorrow in him at this news; these people had abused and neglected him for too many years, even as they provided unwilling, unknowing protection.  He had, however, developed a slightly different take on his aunt and uncle since receiving Snape’s final message so long ago and although it had never prompted him to make overtures to them, in the intervening years, it had given him a perspective that he had never expected he would have.  He also felt a strange sense of loss at the link to his mother but, given his mission here, perhaps that link was not really broken after all.

“It’s OK, old man; I certainly wouldn’t expect you to be sad, given what you put up with here.  That’s why I didn’t try to find you when it happened.”

Harry looked quizzically at Dudley then found himself mimicking Dudley’s actions and clasped his cousin’s shoulder in his own hand. 

“I am sorry for your loss though, Big D.  Believe me, I would never minimize the loss of someone’s parents, no matter who they were.”

To Harry’s shock, this response caused Dudley to pull Harry against his chest and hug him.  Dudley delivered three bone-jarring thumps to Harry’s back and then gave him a little shake.  “Good man!  I do appreciate that.”  Dudley released him and turned back towards the woman who watched them silently.  “Harry, let me introduce my wife, Esther.”

Harry had known there must be a wife; it reconciled with the reason that he was back here after all this time.  However, even though logically there wouldn’t be too many other people that this woman could have been, it was still slightly off-putting to realize that this friendly, pretty woman married his bully cousin.  His feeling of being off-kilter continued to grow.   He turned and extended his hand again.  

“Esther, very nice to meet you.”

“Harry, it is very nice to finally meet you.”

Harry was startled again and the feeling was starting to frustrate him.  He had not expected her to even know that he existed.  Why would Dudley have mentioned him?  There wasn’t anything to relay that was even remotely positive.  Then a thought occurred to him.  He had not expected them to know he was coming and yet Dudley had said that he wondered if he would see him.  He had also not expected Dudley to ever mention him to his wife and yet for some reason he had.  The only explanation was that they were already aware of the issue that had brought him, at Hermione’s request, back to number four, Privet Drive.  It seemed that his thought process was transparently making its way across his face because Dudley cleared his throat and said, “I presume you’re here about Ivy.”


	2. Family

Life had taken on a surreal quality that Harry marveled at.  He was sitting in the Dursley living room with a cold beer in his hand.  An image of glasses nudging and clinking against each other as they fought for attention entered his head, followed by another image of bright blue eyes and a shriveled hand.  He smiled and raised his glass to the empty room and then swallowed hard as everything grew a little blurry.  This was not what he had anticipated when he began his trip back to Little Whinging this morning.

“I don’t know why she thinks this is so all-fired important.  In the first place, it isn’t even possible.  And how, after all this time, can she even think that sending you back to that horrible place is a good idea?  Where is that owl?  I am sending her another howler!”

Ginny Weasley Potter was pacing furiously back and forth in the Potter family room.  Her long red hair flew behind her and swirled each time she reached the end of room and turned on her heel to make the journey across the room again.  Two toddlers and a large black dog watched her in awe from a couch on the side of the room, all three heads turning slightly as they followed her angry path back and forth across the room.  She came to a sudden halt directly before them and all 3 jumped back as she gestured in their direction. 

“You have your own family now.  What good are those ridiculous Dursleys?  I expected so much more from Hermione!  She knows what they did to you.  How can she even think…aah!  And anyway, if this is such a big deal, why doesn’t she go herself?”

“Ginny, please calm down.  You know she can’t go out of the house right now.  Everyone knows that you will pop out that baby without any problems but Hermione almost died when Rose was born.  She cannot travel until after the new baby is born.  This needs doing now and I am the only logical person to do it.  Anyone else won’t know what, or who, they’re dealing with.”

Ginny rubbed her baby belly and glared at her husband.  However, he knew the crisis had passed.  She was still making all of the irritated faces and noises but he had known her long enough to see that he had broken through the temper and she was on the downward slide of this rant.  Apparently the older of the boys on the couch knew her well enough also because he hopped off the couch and came over to hug his mother’s legs. 

“It’s OK, Mama, Daddy’s coming back tonight.  Me and Al will watch you till he’s back.”

Harry ducked his head to hide his smirk at the thought of his 2 and 3 year old sons managing the care and feeding of their mother for the day.  He saw Ginny do the same and walked over to them.  He lowered his hand to his elder son and held it upright, palm out.  James grinned at him and slapped a “high five” with his father.  Harry then straightened and put his arms around his wife.  Ginny dropped her head onto his chest.  She was still breathing heavily from her room crossing workout but she was no longer angry.  She wasn’t laughing though, as he had hoped when he saw her smirk at James.  Now she was crying.  Oi.

“Ginny, please…”

“I’m sorry, it isn’t you or Hermione or even the Dursleys.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

‘You’re seven months pregnant’, is what went through his head but he knew enough not to say it aloud.  “It’s understandable that you would be upset about me going back there.  I’m not all that thrilled myself.  Neither is Hermione, honest.  We agreed not to even tell Ron until after it is done.  He’s going to be as irritated as you were, maybe even more so.  He was there back when I was stuck in that house and he got to see Uncle Vernon in action firsthand.  If it turns out as I expect it to, I don’t think we are ever going to have to or want to mention it again.  But the Ministry has detected a disturbance there and we are obligated to look into it, even if we are talking about a Dursley.”

Ginny sighed.  “I know.”

She straightened, looked down at her little son and rubbed his hair fondly.  As usual, it was poking up in the back and she smiled.  She walked back to the couch and dropped down next to her littlest boy who had been staring at all of them with his arm around the dog. 

“Ummph.  How are you, Al?”

The little boy reached out and touched her cheek which was still wet with tears.  “Mama, kay?”

She put her arm around him and cuddled him next to her.  James climbed up on her other side to get in on the change of mood.  She wrapped her other arm around him and hugged both boys.  As they hugged her back, their arms crossed across her belly, drawing the new baby in as well.  Harry watched his family for a moment and then crossed the room to drop onto his knees in front of Ginny.  He wrapped both arms around all of them. 

“Group hug!” giggled James and suddenly the dog was ducking his head under Harry’s arm, trying to get in on the attention. 

“Paddy, gah, get back.”

Giggles from Al joined those of James and then there was a lot of tickling and shrieking as both boys launched themselves off the couch and threw themselves on Harry.  The three of them wrestled on the floor with the dog bounding around them in excitement while Ginny remained on the couch with her arms circled tightly round her belly.


	3. What Happened in the Meantime

“So, I’ve been wondering for the last year or two if we had something going on that would interest you.”  Dudley’s voice was light but he seemed a little tense.  Harry wasn’t surprised. 

“What happened first that made you wonder that?”

“Well, I finally had to admit it to myself when the cat flew across the room.  Up until that point, I could always come up with another “reasonable” explanation.  It helped that Esther didn’t have the foggiest idea what was happenin’ so she was never able to jump to the conclusions that I did.  Even when the frogs all came to Ivy’s tea party, she thought it was just some sort of obscure homing instinct.  I was pretty sure that wasn’t it.”

Harry laughed out loud.  He had actually witnessed a dog party accidentally thrown by Teddy Lupin when he was 5 so he could relate to the confusion of watching all the neighbourhood pets coming in the front gate in groups of 2 or 3. 

“She’s all right, isn’t she?”

Harry sobered quickly as he looked at Dudley’s serious, slightly fearful face. 

“I have no reason to think that she isn’t.  What do you think?  What kind of a little girl is she?”

Dudley looked at his hands which were gripping his beer mug tightly then looked up at Harry. 

“She’s so great, Harry.  You wouldn’t believe she’s my kid.  She’s so happy and friendly and cute and really smart, too.  Wait till you meet her.”

“Is she here now?”

“No, actually, she’s with my in-laws for the weekend.  We were going to drive up on Sunday for brunch and bring her back with us after that.  Should we go get her back now?”

“Oh no, no, there’s no need.  This might be better actually, I can give you some information about what your options are and then you and Esther can talk about it.  Do you want her in here now or would you rather that you and I just talk first?” 

“She actually went next door.  She wanted to give us some time alone to catch up with each other.  I haven’t been able to tell her that I’m probably the last person that you would want to spend time with.  Other than my parents, of course.  She doesn’t know what I was like back then.  She probably wouldn’t believe me if I tried to tell her.  I am a lot different than I used to be.  I don’t expect you to believe me or to care, but I just wanted to say that.”

All of this had come from Dudley in a quiet rush.  He was no longer looking at Harry but was staring down into his beer again.  Harry began to fear for the mug as Dudley squeezed it harder and harder. 

“I actually should thank you.  It was that time while we were in protective custody with your friends that I really think my life changed.  Your friends are awfully loyal; they were so full of stories about you and what you had done, they never stopped talking about you.  It drove my dad nearly mad.  He didn’t want to believe it so he refused to listen.  I was curious though and they were more than happy to tell me everything.  My mum would pretend that she wasn’t listening but the day they told me about what had happened back when your parents died, I don’t think she could help herself.  After that, she would always sit in the study and pretend to read when Dedalus would tell me stories, even though she would have denied it if anyone had asked her if she was listening.  When the end came, and you defeated that Lord Volde-whoever, Dedalus was so excited, even my dad’s screaming at him to stop talking wasn’t enough.  He actually did this thing with his wand that froze my dad in his chair and he stood over him and told him exactly what had happened, that you sacrificed yourself and everyone thought you were dead but then you weren’t and you fought him and took his wand and killed him and saved everyone.  Once he was done, he unfroze Dad and then he disappeared with this big cracking noise.  Hestia had left as soon as they heard that we should be safe but Dedalus stayed long enough to be sure that we knew everything.  Then he was gone and we packed our stuff back in the car and came home.  Dad was ranting that you had better not try to come back after what we had been through because of you but Mum finally told him that he needed to stop, it was over and we had to get on with our lives the best that we could.  That settled him down and I don’t think he ever mentioned your name again.  Mum though, she would talk to me sometimes about your mum when they were little.  She didn’t talk about you but I saw her once sitting in your old room with a big old feather that was in the stuff you left.  She was sitting on the bed cryin’ and sayin’, ‘I’m sorry, Lily’.  I ducked back down the stairs.  I didn’t know what to say to her.”

Harry knew the feeling of not knowing what to say.  Dudley’s description of Uncle Vernon was just what he would have anticipated but the behaviour of his cousin and aunt was quite unexpected. 

“So, anyway, thank you.  That was certainly a hard few months but I shudder to think what my life would be like if that time had never happened.  I know I wouldn’t have Esther or Ivy.  I was too horrible back then to ever have attracted any kind of normal, nice girl.  I had to change a lot and I’m glad that I did.”

Harry found himself rising to his feet.  He took a step towards Dudley and extended his hand.  Dudley looked surprised and he also reached to grip Harry’s hand. 

“Dudley, I won’t ever pretend that I enjoyed my time with your family.  It was hard and it hurt me.  There was so much pain and anger that no little kid should ever have to endure.  I hated all of you because you hated me first.  I never had a chance with your family.  But I’ve had a lot of time to think about this.  That which does not kill you makes you stronger and all that rot.  Your parents helped make me strong.  There were a lot better ways they could have done that but what the hell.  I had the Weasleys for the good family stuff and they really are my family now.  If we can get past all of that old stuff, we’ll both be the better for it.”

The cousins looked at each other for a few moments, all the while shaking hands.  Finally, Dudley grinned and dropped his eyes and his hand. 

“Thanks,” he said softly.  


	4. Reminiscing

“A tail!  You must be joking!”

“Oh no, I’m not.  I was a right rotten little pig and that’s what he turned me into!”

Dudley was laughing so hard that tears were streaming from the corners of his eyes.  All three of them, Esther included now, were sitting at the dining room table with crackers and cheese and more beer.  Harry was horrified and hysterical at the same time at the sight of Dudley telling the tale of his first encounter with the actual wizarding world.  It was amazing to him that he and Ron had often laughed about the tail in this same way in the past but Dudley was the enemy then and they were laughing at him.  To be laughing with him was astonishing.  The other astonishing thing here was Esther.  Only 2 hours earlier, Harry had explained to her that it appeared that her daughter had likely inherited a gene that had passed her father and her grandmother by and she had the potential, if they were agreeable, to become a full-fledged witch.  It seemed to Harry that Esther must not have been as ignorant of this possible explanation for the weird things in their lives as Dudley had thought since she took this news remarkably well.

“Well, you see, Hagrid really wasn’t s’posed to do magic, but he was really worked up that night.  Hogwarts had been sending me letter after letter and Uncle Vernon had taken us off to that island just to keep me from it.  He really is the sweetest and gentlest half-giant you will ever meet.  You have to know too that he was really devoted to my folks and he was the one who brought me to the Dursleys after my parents were killed.  The idea that he had left me somewhere I wasn’t really wanted was really hard for him to deal with.”

Dudley and Esther were looking at him intently now and Dudley was getting that guilty look that Harry had gotten uncomfortably used to in the last 2 hours. 

“Please don’t do that, Dudley.  We were kids.  We all have limitations.  It is in the past.  Let’s leave it there and move on.”

Dudley’s look now was pathetic appreciation, and Harry wasn’t all that crazy about that look either.  He had been surprisingly touched by Dudley’s story of the Dursleys’ time in hiding and that, combined with the conclusions that he had reached over the years of reflection on Snape’s final memories, had left him quite willing to attempt this new level of interaction with his cousin.  With the additional matter of young Ivy to consider, he was actually finding himself enjoying his day at number four, Privet Drive, something that he never, ever would have thought was possible. 

“So, what other pre-school incidents of magic have the two of you seen with Ivy?”

“Well, I will admit that I stopped takin’ her to the zoo after the froggy tea party.”

Harry laughed again but large snakes still made him uneasy so he did not really want to reflect on Dudley’s long-ago birthday trip to the zoo.  He had lost the “gift” of Parseltongue after he was relieved of his fragment of Voldemort’s soul and he had only been sorry for it once since, when he and Ginny had visited India in the first year after their marriage.  That incident was resolved by a friendly mongoose and he did his best to avoid snake encounters after that.  Ginny often joked that as a child she had to deal with all of the spiders and now she was stuck with the snakes.  Harry and Ron always did their best to ignore her when she got onto that subject. 

“So, what else?”

“Well, she does this thing with flowers.  It’s almost like they’re alive, they open and close like a clam.”

“My mum used to do that when she was little too!”  Harry was excited at this latest turn.  He remembered the experience in the Pensieve of his mother doing that trick for her sister and he also remembered Aunt Petunia’s childish response.

“Your mum didn’t like it; it made her nervous.  Really, she wanted to be able to do it herself but she couldn’t.”

“My mum wanted to do it?!  That doesn’t seem right.”  Dudley was genuinely puzzled.  Up until that time in hiding, he had only heard that witchcraft and wizardry was for freaks from both of his parents.  The idea that his mother had ever wanted to participate was a very alien one.

“I knew a man who grew up near our mothers.  He was actually the one who told my mum what she was and why she could do magic.  He…told me that your mum wished she could have been a witch too but when she couldn’t, she was really bitter about it and all she could do was blame my mother.  I think it got worse when our grandparents were so excited about a witch in the family and she just felt left out.  Her defense was to call her sister a freak and try to ignore her very existence.  She was just a kid too and she didn’t know what else to do.  Once I knew that, I could understand a little better about why she treated me the way that she did.  She probably thought it was no different than what was done to her when everyone was so taken with their precious Lily.” 

Dudley was still looking at him in a quizzical manner, rather like he had just happened on someone confessing the meaning of life.  Esther was looking at Dudley intently.

“See, Dudley, I told you she would have still loved Ivy.”

Dudley was suddenly crying again with his head down in his arms on the table and Esther had moved next to him with her head down near his and her arms around him.  She was making the same ssh-ssh sound that Harry often heard Ginny make when she was comforting the boys.  He felt like an intruder in this private moment but he couldn’t find a way to get out of it short of Apparating right then and there. 

“I know you’ve been afraid of what they would have thought but if she wanted to be a witch herself, she would have been able to accept it in Ivy.”

Harry listened to Esther’s words of comfort and he really wasn’t certain that she was right.  Even if Aunt Petunia had softened up after he had left Privet Drive once and for all, he still wasn’t sure how she would have reacted to a witchy grand-daughter.  And he was quite certain that he did know exactly how Uncle Vernon would have reacted and it would not have been pretty.  However, it was clear that this was a gigantic issue for Dudley and Harry knew that whatever the truth was, Esther’s approach was probably for the best since both of Dudley’s parents were dead and gone and their possible reaction was immaterial. 

“Hey, mate, you know she’s right.  Grandmothers can take pretty much anything.  As much as your mum loved you, how could she help but love your Ivy?”

Dudley raised his head from his arms and blinked at Harry.  “I don’t know if you’re right and I wonder if you even really believe what you’re saying.  I know that it doesn’t matter anyway.  Ivy didn’t start doing any of these things until after Dad and Mum were gone.  And Esther’s parents aren’t gonna hold it against her; they think the sun rises and sets on their little darling.  I’m sure it will be fine.”

Dudley straightened up and patted his wife’s arms which were still around him.  He looked up at her, smiled and kissed her gently. 

“Thank you, sweetheart.  I love you.”

Esther smiled back at him and then looked over to Harry.  “Sorry, he’s just such a softy.”

Harry laughed again.  “Those are words I never in my life expected to hear about my cousin Dudley.”   


	5. Hermione's Errand

Harry headed back home about an hour later by Floo.  He hadn’t realized that Privet Drive was still hooked to the Floo network when he had first Apparated there earlier in the day.  Since they hadn’t been expecting him, it would have been the height of rudeness to have used the fireplace to arrive anyway, not to mention, the last time he had been in the house, the fireplace had been blocked by an electric fire.  He was glad for the connection and the re-opened fireplace when it was time to go because he and Dudley had consumed quite a bit of beer throughout the afternoon and he wasn’t entirely sure that he could Apparate without splinching himself by the end of the visit.  He had gathered quite a bit of information about Ivy’s early skills to talk over with Hermione. 

She had sent him on this fact-finding mission in her role as the Deputy Head of Magical Law Enforcement.  All of the pre-school magic detected amongst the Muggle population was investigated by the Muggle Division of Hermione’s department and promising candidates were passed on to Hogwarts for further review and contact.  Normally, there was no contact made with the Muggles by her department; any contact was made later by Hogwarts staff.  As a Muggle-born herself, Hermione was particularly interested in the potential witches and wizards out in the Muggle population so she always personally reviewed the weekly reports of pre-school age magic detected in areas that were not known to be inhabited by wizarding families.  Because she was currently working from home due to her second difficult pregnancy, she had delegated many of her duties to the managers working for her but she was still reviewing her weekly reports and making recommendations.  Periodic reports had come from the area of Privet Drive over the last couple of years and Hermione had become suspicious.  She had made sure to personally review any of the reports from her investigators coming from Little Whinging and had finally seen enough evidence to warrant a report to Hogwarts.  However, in this case, she thought a change of procedure was in order and owled Harry with an invitation to tea.  Since the extended Weasley clan, of which both Harry and Hermione were now officially members, met regularly for large, boisterous family gatherings, he found an invitation specifically addressed to him and only him to be odd, to say the least.  He was even more surprised when he arrived to find only Hermione at home. 

“Where are Ron and Rose?  I thought we were having tea.”

“ _We_ are having tea, Harry.  Ron and Rose are not.  I sent them off to the Burrow for the afternoon.  Molly has been begging Ron to bring Rose to see her and that worked out fine for me today.  I didn’t tell him I was expecting you.”

“Ah, finally, you’ve decided to throw caution to the wind and seduce me.  Alone at last.”  He smiled kindly at her crazed hair and swollen belly and then laughed aloud when she rolled her eyes and harrumphed in his direction. 

“Yes, that’s it.  I figured it’s now or never.”  They both laughed and he seated himself on the couch across from her.  She was already nestled in an armchair with her feet elevated.

“So what can I do for you if you didn’t bring me here for the grand seduction or to visit with your family?”

“Well, I have something for you to do and I hope you will agree.  I have a Muggle family that needs to be notified about their daughter's potential magical abilities and I would like for you to do it.”

Harry made a face at her.  “What?  Why?  Doesn’t Hogwarts take care of that?  Why in the world would McGonagall want me to do it?  What if they don’t believe me?  What if they get angry?  I wouldn’t have the faintest idea what to do or say.  What is this all about?  And why won’t you look me in the eye?”

It was true.  From the moment that she had made her request, she was looking all around the room but not meeting his eyes.  This was very un-Hermione-like, unless she knew something that she was not quite ready to share yet or she was feeling guilty.  Harry wondered what was going on.  He didn’t even know any Muggles any longer.  Once he left Privet Drive nearly ten years ago, he had lived exclusively within the wizarding world, other than a few holidays spent at Muggle attractions.

“Well, here’s the thing.  We get the reports of any pre-school witchcraft in areas where there are no wizarding families.  We do have investigators who go out and do surveillance on these reports.  Normally, we would do the initial checks and then send the names and addresses up to Hogwarts and their staff goes out to do the “meet & greets” to explain what is going on.”

“I know all that.  What I don’t know is what any of this has to do with me.  What is going on?”

“OK, OK, I don’t really know how to tell you this so I’m just going to say it.  One of the reports we have appears to be coming from number four, Privet Drive.  The house is still owned by Dursleys.  It appears from our investigation that there is an 8 year old Potential living at your old house.  I think she is probably Dudley’s daughter.”

Harry’s jaw dropped open.  He could feel himself blinking stupidly at Hermione who was finally looking him straight in the face. 

“Since the Dursleys have expressed a certain…shall we say, hesitance… (Harry snorted and made another face.) about wizarding and Hogwarts in the past, I thought it might not be worthwhile to have McGonagall send any of her staff out to the house.  I did speak to her about it and she agreed with me that it might be more productive to have you go out on this visit.  If they have the same level of ambivalence that they used to, you would be authorized to offer them a potion that will dampen the girl’s tendencies.”

“You can drug magical powers out of someone?”

“Not exactly, it just controls the urges until the child is old enough to control them automatically.  It isn’t like one of our children controlling their urge to do magic within the rules we give them.  This is more like addressing it when they’re young and don’t know that they are doing something unusual until they get old enough that the magical urge seems unreal to them.  They medicate these children until they are 12 or 13.  By that point, the social norms are engrained enough that any urge to do something magical, seems irrational.  With a “normal” Muggle teenager, the magical impulses would be out of the ordinary and since most of them want to simply fit in, they don’t act on those impulses.  If they do, the potion can be continued as long as necessary.  People do use the same potion on developmentally disabled children within the wizarding community if they begin to use their powers in a destructive fashion.  No one really talks much about it but it is done if the child is a danger to themselves or others.”

Harry was listening in astonishment.  He had never heard anything like what she was telling him.  His experience with young witches or wizards had begun only ten years ago with Teddy and although there were a number of Weasley children in his life, including his own boys, there had never been any difficulties in keeping the pre-school magic under sufficient control.  He thought momentarily of Ariana Dumbledore and wondered how things might have been different if her family had been able to control her impulses with medication.   

Hermione continued.  “The Hogwarts staff equates it to ADHD when they are explaining it to non-receptive Muggle parents.  In fact, they usually set it up as an actual medical diagnosis, write the prescription and set it up within a particular pharmacy that does both Muggle and wizarding work.  If the family seems difficult, they can Obliviate all of them and then a Mediwizard follows up with the child in the guise of a medical specialist for as long as necessary.  Most of the time however, the non-receptive parents are more like the Dursleys in that they don’t want anyone to know so they keep it quiet themselves.  It’s easier to keep the child on the Potion when the parents know what is going on.”

Harry was now struggling with a new, horrific thought.  “Why didn’t the Dursleys medicate me?  They hated the whole idea of witchcraft.  How did I make it out of my childhood as a Wizard?”

“Well, obviously, Harry, the Dursleys were not given the option to medicate you.  Who would ever even put that question to them?  You belonged to the wizarding world; you’re in the textbooks for heaven’s sake.  How would the Ministry of Magic possibly explain to the population that the saviour of their world had been turned Muggle by his guardians?  It was just never even considered.  Probably no one ever thought that they would want to eliminate your powers since clearly a child who could stop Lord Voldemort was something special.  Well, Dumbledore might have thought that they might but he certainly wasn’t going to give them the chance to do it.  Especially since he already knew that you had a destiny to fulfil.”

Harry understood what she was saying but he continued to feel sick to his stomach.  “How many witches and wizards do we allow to be destroyed by their parents?  What if that child wants to be a wizard?  How can the Ministry and Hogwarts participate in destroying that potential?  That is not acceptable.”

“Harry, I understand how you feel.”

“How can you possibly?  What if I wasn’t famous?  They could have kept me…made me one of them…”

“Harry, the same thing could have happened to me.  I do understand how you feel.  I really do.”

He looked up into her now steady gaze and realized that she did know.  “What if your parents hadn’t wanted you to be a witch?  Finest witch in our year.  What if they medicated you and kept you home?  What if, Hermione?  Can you make me understand how this is acceptable?  I just don’t…”  His voice trailed off and he looked back down at his hands. 

Hermione stood up carefully from the loveseat where she had been sitting with her feet up and walked over to the couch.  She sat down next to him and put her arm around his shoulders. 

“I don’t disagree with you.  I thought about this a lot when I first was told about the process.  There is more to it.  Once the child is of age, they are approached again and are told of their potential.  If they are receptive, they are placed into an adult education program to learn many of the skills that we learned at school.  It isn’t as comprehensive of an education but it is sufficient to enter into our world if they wish.  Many do.  The problem is that this does frequently cause a rift in the family if the Potential decides to pursue their skills.  If they do not wish to leave the Muggle life, Obliviate is used again so there is no permanent issue in the family.  The good news is that most of the Muggle parents who are approached are receptive.  Most parents are proud of their children, whatever their skills.  It is harder since there is a secrecy issue but the majority of Muggle-borns are integrated into our world at some level.  Oftentimes, they do not go to Hogwarts but there are other means to educate besides boarding school.”

“I never knew that.  There are other schools in England that teach wizardry and witchcraft?”

“Well, of course.  Again, they are not usually as comprehensive but not everyone can go to boarding school.  There are 40 to 50 students in each year at Hogwarts.  Do you think that is how many young witches and wizards there are born in all of Great Britain in any given year?”

“Honestly, I never thought about it.  I never thought about any of this.  This is more than I want to think about.  Why am I even here?”

“I need you to go to the Dursleys and see if they want to let this little girl be educated as a witch.  I suspect that they will not.  After what you just said to me, if you want to try to persuade them, you can do that.  The Hogwarts staff cannot advocate one way or the other but since you are on an unofficial visit, you can take whatever approach you want with them.  On the other hand, if you find just more of the same old Dursley rubbish, you might decide that you want to encourage them to use the potion.  It is up to you.  I wanted to give you this opportunity.  I’m sorry if you think this was a bad idea.  If you don’t want to make this trip, I will understand.”

Harry had wondered about the wisdom of the trip but he had agreed.  He was curious now and his disgust at the thought of medicating magic powers away was warring with his Dursley recollections.  He had agreed with Hermione that there was no need to tell Ron about this trip just yet but she had not had any objection when he said that he would be filling Ginny in on what she had told him.  He had thought Ginny would be more reasonable than Ron but it had turned out not to be the case.  Since he and Ginny were never together during any of real problems he had had with the Dursleys, he hadn’t thought that she had any significant feelings about them one way or the other.  He found out that this was not the case when he filled her in on Hermione’s information.  She did have quite a number of opinions about his mistreatment at their hands and she apparently harboured a matching number of grudges.  She had even composed a Howler to Hermione for trying to subject Harry to the Dursleys after all these years.  Fortunately, Harry had intercepted the owl before it made it off the porch and had Apparated away with the red envelope before it could explode within Ginny’s hearing.  She had continued to be irritated all the way up to that morning when she had threatened a second Howler without knowing that the first one had never made it to its destination.  She had calmed down by the time he had left that morning and he was certain she would be waiting anxiously for his return.

She was sitting on the couch again when he dropped out of the fireplace into the living room.  Her feet were propped up on the sleeping dog and her eyes were closed.  The boys’ voices could be heard in their playroom upstairs.  She awoke with surprise at the sound of the Floo fire.

“Where did you just come from?”

“Dudley’s.”

“In the Floo?”

“Yeah, weird huh, they’re still attached to the Floo Network from when your dad had them added all those years back.  The fireplace is regular again so I just came back that way.”

She looked at him with her eyes narrowed.  “So how did it go?”

He plopped down next to her on the couch and put his arms around her.  “Surprising.  It was very surprising.  They’re coming for dinner on Saturday.”   

“Are you drunk?”

“Yeah, I probably am.  But they’re still coming for dinner.” 


	6. At the Burrow

As Harry had expected, Ginny had been waiting impatiently for the news of his afternoon.  She sat quietly while he filled her in on the news of his uncle and aunt’s deaths and his cousin’s surprising change into a seemingly decent human being.  She seemed pleased by the confirmation that there did appear to be a new witch in the family but Harry could tell that she was still a little suspicious of the new and improved Dudley.  She was far more agreeable to his news that he had invited the Dursleys for supper than he had been expecting until he realized that this would give her the opportunity to judge for herself whether Harry had lost his mind or not.  He understood her skepticism since several times over the next few days he would find himself wondering whether he could possibly have imagined the event.  The ease of the reunion seemed unreal as he reflected back upon it.  If he had possessed a Pensieve of his own, he would have pulled out his memories of the afternoon just to convince himself that they had really occurred. 

The next day was Weasley Sunday at the Burrow.  Ginny went into the Floo with Al and Harry followed with James a moment later.  They stepped out into a frenzy of noise and red hair. 

“Jamey!  Come and see Teddy’s owl!  It’s got giant ears!”  George’s oldest son, Freddy, was jumping up and down with excitement.  He grabbed James by the hand and the boys ran out the back door.  Al made a fussy sound from Ginny’s arms and she put him down to toddle after his brother and cousin.    

“Good to see you too, Freddy,” Harry called sarcastically after his retreating nephew.

“What do you expect, Harry, what good are you compared to a brand new owl?”  George laughed and clapped Harry on the shoulder as he walked past him into the kitchen.  “Especially an owl with giant ears!”

 “Teddy’s off to Hogwarts in a week.  Andromeda took him to Diagon Alley yesterday for his school supplies.”  Molly Weasley spoke as she brushed past her one-eared son and hurried to her daughter.  She shouted, “Hello, baby, it’s your grandmum,” to Ginny’s belly and kissed it.  Ginny stood patiently with an amused smile on her face. 

“Don’t take it personally, Harry.  I don’t seem to be all that interesting either.” 

“Oh, dear, you know I’m happy to see you, I just have to make sure my grandbaby knows me when it’s time to make its way out.”

“I’m sure she will,” Harry said with a smile.     

“He’s convinced it’s a girl,” Ginny laughed. 

“Power of positive thinking.  Good for you, Harry.”

“Mum, the baby is what it is already.  No amount of wishful thinking is going to change that.”

“You are such a killjoy.  How do you think we got a girl?  I told Rose every morning before she was born that she was a girl and look, she was a girl.”  Ron had just stepped out of the fireplace and joined the conversation. 

Ginny snorted.  “You think that’s how that happened, do you?  Good thing you’ve got a job that requires brawn, not brains.”

“Hey!” Harry retorted.  “Same job as mine, helloo.”

“You’re clearly the brains in your team, darlin’.”  Ginny came to him laughing and kissed him.  She turned to Ron and hugged him.  “You are a dope.”

“That may be true.  When’s dinner?”

“Same time that it always is.  Where is your daughter?”

“She should be here.  She spent the night.”

“She’s outside with the rest looking at the new owl,” George called from inside the kitchen.  His voice sounded muffled.  Ron recognized the sound of a full mouth and went into the kitchen to see what was ready to eat.  Molly huffed indignantly and followed him in to make sure they were not eating anything that she was holding back for later. 

“So is anyone else coming today?” Ginny called after her.

“No, it’s a small group today.  George, Emmy, Fred and Owen; you and Harry and the boys and Ron and Rose.  Oh, and Teddy too.  Andromeda dropped him off earlier.  Bill and Fleur are still in France and William wasn’t feeling well so Percy and Penelope are staying home.  And obviously Hermione can’t be here.  Are you sure she should be alone, Ron?”

“Mum, I told you yesterday, she is doing fine, she just needs to stay off her feet.  I told her I would bring her a plate when dinner was ready.  If she needs something before that, she will Floo-call.”

“All right, I’m sure you know what’s best.” Molly reluctantly conceded.

“What?!  Have you been listening to him?  He thinks he talked his daughter into being a girl in utero!”

“Ginny, you know that he doesn’t really think that,” scolded Molly.  Ron came up behind his mother, put his arm around her and kissed her cheek, then stuck his tongue out at his sister. 

“So there,” he sneered at her. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.  So where is Dad?”

“He was out with the owl contingent earlier but my guess is that he sneaked off to the shed.  He’s brought something new home last week and hid it out there.”

“If you know about it, who is he hiding it from?” Harry asked. 

Molly laughed.  “Oh, he’s hiding it from me; he just doesn’t realize that I always know when he brings something home.  I think it’s more fun for him to hide it so I just let him think that.”  She turned back into the kitchen and began to scold George again.  Ginny followed to watch.   

“Speaking of hiding things, what did you do yesterday, Harry, that Hermione won’t talk about?”

Harry looked at Ron with surprise.  “I could play dumb here but I think it’s probably pointless.  I think Ginny has been under-estimating you.”

“Of course she has.  It’s a lot easier to get what I want if she doesn’t know I’m out-thinking her.”

“Oh, you better not let her hear you say anything like that.  She’ll hex you for sure.”

“To quote my lovely sister, yeah, yeah, whatever.  So, spill.”

“Come on out front and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”


	7. Brothers

Ron led the way to the front door and they went out into the hazy sunshine.  Several chickens were pecking the ground around the door and Harry noticed two gnomes burrowing behind a flowering shrub.  He followed Ron to a small table with benches on either side and sat down facing his oldest friend. 

“So what do you know?”

“Nothing really, other than you came by the house yesterday and then went on an ‘errand’.  She would not tell me anything else.  Said it was privileged.  Is that true?  If you can’t tell me, I do understand, but if it’s a case, I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to give me the basic details.  We’re partners, aren’t we?  Are you working with someone else on this?”

Ron’s voice was carefully controlled and Harry realized that Ron thought this was a work thing from which Harry was excluding him. 

“Oh no, no, no, you’ve misunderstood.  I’m sorry.  This is not related to the Department.  It is something that is involved with Hermione’s Department, not ours.  She was having me check out an under-aged magic situation in a Muggle neighbourhood.”

“Why would you do that?  Why would that even be a secret?”

“It’s because of who the Muggles are.  It’s magic at Privet Drive.  At the Dursleys’.” 

Ron’s eyes became huge and his mouth fell open.  “What?  Who’s there?”

“Well, it seems that Dudley is married with a daughter and she is probably a witch.”

Harry wouldn’t have thought it possible but Ron’s eyes got even bigger.  “Whaaa??  Do they know?  What did you do?”

“I did what I went to do.  I talked to Dudley and his wife.  They already knew about Ivy, that’s her name, Ivy, or at least had suspicions.  Get this…they’re actually interested in letting her go to Hogwarts.  I spent the whole afternoon there and they were so much more receptive than I would ever have expected.”

“Wait, wait.  I have missed something here; I must have.  The Dursleys are interested in a Hogwarts education?  Have we just crossed over into the Twilight Zone?  And you spent the day there?  I can’t believe your uncle would even let you in the door, let alone let you spend the afternoon.  I’m also at a loss as to why you would want to talk to them at all, witchy daughter or no.  I hear that Malfoy has a kid too who is probably going to be a wizard but that doesn’t mean you’ll be going over to talk to that git about his kid’s future education.  Why would Hermione involve you in this?  She knows how that family treated you.  It was abusive, that’s what it was.  I saw how they treated you myself.  Horrible people.  You should never have seen them again.  I am going home to tell her that she needs to leave you alone.  I’m sorry she did this but you have to realize that it’s not her fault.  She’s been crazier than usual, with the baby and the hormones and everything.  I hope that you will be able to forget this and forgive her.  I am so, so sorry.”  Ron stood and turned back towards the Burrow.

“No, mate, you don’t understand.  Sit back down.  Don’t be mad at Hermione.  I’ve finally got Ginny settled down on that; you’ll understand too after you listen.”

Ron squinted suspiciously at Harry.  “Ginny knows?”

“Well, of course.  I couldn’t just disappear for the day and not tell her where I would be.  She was mad too, for all the same reasons that you are.  But you have to understand, I’m not that little kid anymore.  It was a bad deal but it’s the past.  I’m enough over it that I can face the Dursleys, even Uncle Vernon.  However, I don’t have to do that.  He’s dead.  Aunt Petunia too.”

Now Ron sat again, with a thump, onto the bench.  “Dead?  You didn’t kill them, did you?”

Harry threw his head back and laughed a short, hard burst of laughter.  “Sorry, so inappropriate.  No, it wasn’t me.  They were in a car accident a few years ago.  Dudley told me about it yesterday.  It isn’t pretty.  They were travelling in Norway and were in an accident.  The car went off into a fjord.  They didn’t even find the spot and the car for a couple of weeks.  They found Uncle Vernon in the car but Aunt Petunia must have been ejected.  They looked for her but never found her body.” 

Ron dropped his head down into his hands and ran his long fingers through his hair, leaving it in crazy spikes.  “Oh, that’s awful.  Even for them.  Urgh.” 

“I know.  It is bad.  Even for them, like you said.  Dudley, too.  Especially Dudley, actually.  He had to wait around to find out and then it was all bad.  He’s still upset even though it has been a while.”

“OK, there’s the other thing.  You’re talking about Dudley like he’s someone other than Dudley.  I know this is awful but that doesn’t change anything about the Dursleys.”

“No, their deaths don’t but it turns out that there had been some changes before that, at least for Dudley and Aunt Petunia.  And Dudley is more changed now than you will be able to believe.  Wait until you meet him again.  It takes some getting used to.  Beer helps, I think.”

“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.  What kind of changes?”

Harry enlightened Ron on Dudley’s description of the protective custody and how it had impacted both Dudley and Aunt Petunia.  He told him about the prior day’s visit and about Esther and Ivy.  He also informed him of the upcoming get-together. 

“You and Rose would be welcome but I think it might be best to ease them into their brave new world with just me and Ginny and the kids.  As long as things turn out well at this dinner, it seems that we will be seeing the new and improved Dursley family on a fairly regular basis.  Hard to believe, eh?”

“Yeah, you could say that.  Did you let Hermione know yet about how the visit turned out?”

“No, I haven’t had a chance and it was too involved to just send her an owl.  If it’s all right, I’ll come by tonight after we’re done here and fill her in.”

“I think you’d better.  If I came home and told her Dudley was your new favourite relative, I am pretty sure that she would think I had been Stunned and would have someone from St. Mungo’s come and get me.”

“Aw, you know he could never be my favourite relative.  Now that I’m officially a Weasley, my favourite relative is obviously my new brother, Percy.”

“You’re a funny one, Potter.”    

The brothers rose from the table, laughing, and went back inside the Burrow for Sunday Dinner. 


	8. Getting Ready

“Teddy, please get that turtle out of the bathtub and back in its bowl.  Your grandmum will be here to pick you up any moment.  You need to be ready!”

Ginny was bustling about, getting ready for the arrival of their dinner guests.  She had been surprised by a little green face peering up at her from the bath.

“Aunt Ginny, I’m leaving Cyril for Jamey and Al, ‘member?”  Teddy came on the run from the boys’ playroom.  He had red hair and green eyes, as he frequently did when he stayed with the Potters.  The hair turned suddenly turquoise as he skidded to a stop in front of her.  “I can’t take him to Hogwarts with me so Jamey is going to take care of him.”

Ginny laughed as she thought of who would actually be caring for Cyril.  “I do remember that, kiddo, but it would really help me if you could get him back in his bowl.  Uncle Harry’s cousins are coming for dinner tonight and I don’t think Cyril in the bathtub makes the best first impression."

“They might really like him.  He blows bubbles while he sleeps.”

“You’re right, they might like him and if we have time, we’ll be sure to let them see him but it will still be better if he’s in the bowl and not the tub.”

“OK, I’ll move him.”

Once Cyril was safely out of the way, Ginny did a quick cleaning spell and moved back down to the kitchen.  Dinner was all set, the house was in order and the Dursleys were expected in two hours.  That gave her time to make sure that everyone was tidy and dressed for company. 

“Teddy, darling, are you ready to go?”  Andromeda Tonks’ voice rang out from the family room as she stepped out of the Floo.  Little voices of protest rang out from the playroom.  Teddy appeared at the top of the stairs, red-haired again, carrying a weeping Al, followed closely by a rebellious looking James.  Paddy followed with a soggy rope toy dangling from his teeth.

“Already, Gram?  Me and the boys are still playin’.”

“Yes, dear, the boys need to get ready for their cousins and we still have visits to make before you leave.  You’ll see them Tuesday morning.  You are still planning to come to see the train off, aren’t you, Ginny?”

“Oh yes, we wouldn’t miss it for the world.  Boys, give Teddy hugs and kisses so he can go.  I’ll run out to the shed and get Harry.  He’ll want to say good-bye too.”

Harry had adopted the shed idea from his father-in-law.  Ginny wasn’t entirely sure what he did out there, other than get away from the ruckus in the house.  She realized that this was probably the big appeal to her dad as well.

“Harry, Andromeda is here to pick up Teddy, you need to come in and say good-bye.  Are you going to be able to get away on Tuesday to meet us at the train?  He would really like it if you could be there.”

“Can you believe that it has been 11 years since he was born?  I remember; Remus was so excited.  He would be so proud to see him now.”  Harry was sitting at the work bench with several moving pictures before him.  She saw the young Marauders mugging for the camera and an infant Teddy with changing hair colors.  On the wall, James and Lily danced and laughed between pictures of their grandsons.       

“Oh, Harry, you can’t go in there like that.  The boys are already crying; you’re going to make it worse.”

Harry looked up at her sheepishly.  “You’re always practical.  Yes, both Ron and I will be at Platform 9 and ¾ at 10:45 and then we will take you and the boys out to lunch.  Does that work for you?”

“Yes, it does.  Now, come on, we need to tell them good-bye and then we need to get ready for Dudley and Esther and Ivy.  This is a big night.”

“It certainly is.  I’m sorry to be a sap.  Sometimes I can’t help it.”

“I know.  It’s part of your charm.”  She moved close to him and dried the leaky corners of his eyes with her apron before kissing him softly.  He put his arms around her and pulled her close. 

“I’m so lucky to have you.  Thank you for loving me, even when I’m a soggy git.”

“Oh, that is no problem.  I’m happy to do it.  Now, as much as I am enjoying it out here, we need to get in the house.  Can you come in?”

“Yep, I’m back to being a manly man.  It’s safe to take me back with people.”

She laughed and tugged him to his feet.  Hand in hand, they walked back into the house. 

“Daddy, why can’t Teddy stay?”  James threw himself at Harry as soon as they made their way into the house.  Harry crouched down to look his eldest son in the eye as Ginny wove her way around them to go back into the family room.

“Well, he still has to finish getting ready to go to school.  And, remember, Cousin Ivy is coming to meet us tonight.  We have to get ready for her to get here.”

“Why can’t Teddy meet her too?”

“He will get to meet her later, maybe when he comes home for Christmas.  Not tonight.  Be a big boy so Al won’t feel bad, OK?”

“OK, Daddy.”

Harry stood and caught James’ hand in his own.  “Let’s go give him hugs so he can go and we can get ready for company.”

They walked into the family room and found Teddy sitting on the floor with Al, changing his nose and hair to make Al laugh.  When he saw Harry enter the room, Teddy jumped up and ran over to his godfather for a big hug. 

“I will see you on Tuesday but there won’t be much time.  You be good and have fun and study hard.  We’ll be thinking about you always.  Write to us lots and let us know how things are going.  It will give that bird of yours something to do.  You already know so many teachers there, you’re hardly even going to know you’re not at home but if you need anything, you let us know.  Got it?” 

“Got it.  I love you, Uncle Harry.”

“I love you too, Teddy.  I am so proud of you and your mum and dad would be too.  Now, you go on with your grandmum and we will see you on Tuesday morning.”

He gave the boy, whose hair now matched his own, a final hug.  Teddy went to Ginny for another hug and kiss and then hugged both boys.

“You guys be good for your mum, you hear me?  I’ll send you letters too so you keep an eye out for Finn.”  He kissed both little boys on the cheek and then rose and went to his grandmother in front of the fireplace.  “And you be sure to take care of Cyril for me, too.”

“We will.  Bye, Teddy.  Good-bye, Mrs. Tonks.”  James stood bravely with his arm around his little brother’s shoulders as his god-brother disappeared into the fireplace.

“All right boys, let’s go upstairs and get dressed for Cousin Ivy.  Ginny, do you need any help down here before we go up?”

“No, I think everything is set.  If you can get the boys in order, it would be a big help.”

The next hour went by quickly and fairly uneventfully, other than when Harry tried to lure Paddy out of the house using the slobbery rope toy.  The big dog was pretty sure that what Harry actually had in mind was tug-of-war but in the end, Paddy was safely confined in his side yard and any stray dog hair was banished with a quick wand flick.  The smell of roast and freshly baked bread floated invitingly through the house.  The clock in the entry bonged once for the half hour and the sound of tires scrunching on gravel was heard.

“Half past six, sharp,” Harry said and went to the front door.     


End file.
